Outside Class Learning: An Exploration

The Review of Contemporary Scientific and Academic Studies
An International Multidisciplinary Online Journal
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ISSN: 2583-1380 Vol. 2 | Issue 9 | September 2022 Impact Factor: 4.736 (SJIF)
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Outside Class Learning: An Exploration
Md. Arman https://doi.org/10.55454/rcsas.2.9.2022.006
1
Md. Arman (rubelbdbhat@gmail.com)
M.A. in Applied Linguistics and ELT, Department of English, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee The RCSAS (ISSN: 2583-1380). This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International
License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Crossref/DOI: https://doi.org/10.55454/rcsas.2.9.2022.006
Abstract: Outside Class Learning (OCL) in the Bangladeshi context is one of the constantly used buzzwords among
graduate and undergraduate students. The purpose of this research is to understand the real and on-ground
phenomenon among adult learners. The study found the characteristics of OCL among tertiary students who are or
not motivated to self-learning, the effectiveness of OCL, and the challenges of OCL. This study also tried to answer
the questions about OCL whether students like it or not and why. The researcher used both open and close-ended
questions to find out the data, and data were collected from forty graduate students of the class of 2014 of the
Department of English, University of Dhaka. All the volunteers participated spontaneously and they had been given
time as they required to submit the responses of questionnaire. This empirical study was purely unbiased in findings
with unexpected results and responses to open-ended questions about this unexplored way of study.
Keywords: ELT, Learners Autonomy, Outside Class Learning
Abbreviation:
OCL= Outside Class Learning
MEOC= Manifesto of Education: Outside Classroom
MA= Master of Arts
ELT= English Language Teaching
Introduction
Learning outside the class can be defined as a learning style which is taken place within an institutional
context, relates to students’ academic endeavors, and contributes to students’ learning outcomes. OCL
includes intangible elements such as the culture of a campus or faculty and the hidden curriculum evident in
the value of an institution (Kerri-Lee Krause, 2007). OCL is a method of learning that positions students in a
context that motivates them to learn (Wan Sulaiman et al, 2010). These student-centered learning activities
enforce learners to implement the curriculum of the target learning subject or topics. This process of learning
provides the students with real-life experiences of what they have just learned in class. The method of
classroom teaching comes to be practiced in real life by students by OCL which is considered effective
because it clarifies students’ understanding and concepts about the subjects and at the same time it makes the
learning enjoyable for students. “At the same time, learners also have fun and get some mental refreshment
in the fresh air” (MEOC: 2006). It is a contextualized learning method that can help students to learn in a
selected environment. It also helps pupils make the subject more vivid, interesting, and meaningful which
contribute in personal and emotional development and social harmony among students (MEOC: 2006). OCL,
in some cases, refers to learner autonomy. Learner autonomy is the ability to take charge of one’s learning
(Holes: 1981). Autonomy is a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent
action. Student-centred OCL is related to learners autonomy. It presupposes that the learners will develop a
particular kind of psychological relation to the process and content of their learning (Little: 1991). So it is
basically concerned with learning and learning style rather than teaching, as its development is considered to
be a cooperative learning process among students that can be guided by teachers if learners want. While
learning something in class, the curious minds of students look for the logical correlation in real life context.
This learning process fulfills the curiosity and answers all the questions of the minds relating the theories to
practices and it takes the readers from the classroom to the field to experience it firsthand. Since learners are
autonomous in this learning environment, they are free to follow the way to learn how they like to do it and
since the environment is created by the learners for the learners and no one is there to control them, they stay
stress-free which is essential for learning anything. Autonomous adult learners always look for flexibility and
a self-controlled environment in their learning time which can be practiced in OCL.

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Methodology
A total of 40 students of MA in Applied Linguistics and ELT from the Department of English, University of
Dhaka volunteered for the study. The participants were from diverse cultural, political, financial, and
academic backgrounds where both male and female students were selected in the equal number, 20 males
and 20 females. They were offered the same questionnaires to be answered freely. Four open-ended
questions were given to find out the quantitative data and four close-ended questions were provided to
determine the qualitative data. Some strategies were taken for collecting the questionnaires. There were a set
of pre-prepared guiding questions, the researcher was totally neutral during the participants ‘answering the
questions, and the participants were given the absolute freedom to answer the number of questions and the
way to answer they wanted. The data found in the survey were analyzed both statistically and descriptively.
The responses of participants were calculated into percentages manually.
Research Questions
1. What are the challenges Bangladeshi students face in OCL?
2. What are the impacts of OCL on their academic studies?
Findings
The contributors were given the questions to be answered and the results were unexpected. It was unexpected
because, in this setting, there was no such former study on this particular field, especially, among the tertiary
group of students. In the Bangladeshi context, all groups of students of all ages remain busy studying outside
the class but no such research can be found on this broad, widely used situation. The close-ended
statements/questions given to the students were such:
It is more comfortable to study outside the class.
Pie Chart No. 1
In this narrative, the results shown in pie chart No. 1, 20% of 40 participants agreed strongly and said that it
is absolutely relaxing and comfortable to study outside of the class and they also acknowledged that they are
used to studying in this environment from junior school. 45% of them only agreed with this statement
whereas 30% of these adult participants were somehow confused and they more or less agreed but were not
sure whether it is comfortable or not but they hoped it anyway finds some comfortableness for them in the
OCL setting. On the other hand, 5% of the concerned participants totally disagreed with this statement and
brought some logical arguments to display why it cannot be comfortable for them. So 95% of total
participants showed positive or near positive interest in OCL.
The second question given to the volunteers: Do you think learning outside class is helpful?
Pie Chart No. 2
By this question, the researcher discovered that there are only two groups of people; “Agreed” and
“Confused” groups. 80% of the participants agreed and would like to say frankly that it helps them to prepare

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their classroom lesson and it also helps them to profound their knowledge. Though a great number of
participants displayed positive responses, 20% of them were confused and could not definitely say whether it
would be helpful or not.
Then the third question: How many hours do you study outside the class?
The researcher divided the answers to this question into four groups:
Pie Chart No. 3
A. 1 to 3 study hours
B. 3 to 5 study hours
C. 5 to 8 study hours and
D. More than 8 study hours
The study found that 70% of the participants study only from 1 to 3 hours a day, 15% of them study for 3 to
5 hours, 5% study from 5 to 8 hours, and only 10% of the volunteer participants study more than 8 hours a
day.
The final close-ended question: Do you study in a group or with a partner?
Pie Chart No. 4
The close-ended responses were divided into four parts:
A.Often
B. Sometimes
C.Seldomand
D. Never
The participants for this questionnaire are those people who think studying outside class is more
comfortable, so the number of participants is only 38. 20 people of 38 participants are male and 18 are
female. 30% of the participants said that they “Often” study with a group or at least with a partner. 45% said
that they “Sometimes” study in a group or with a partner. 20% of participants mentioned that they “Seldom”
go with a group for study and 5% of them “Never” tried it with a group or a partner outside the class but they
think it will be absolutely fine.
From the open-ended questions, the researcher was looking for the opinion of participants on why it is
helpful for learners. With the spontaneous responses of volunteers, the researcher found, that sometimes,
their answers were the same. From the data, the researcher kept only once the repeated answer and showed it
in the study precisely. The participants answered the questions in various ways by their own thought and idea
based on their backgrounds knowledge and practice. They think the learners can learn in their own ways. The
learning style varies from person to person, so they like the way they want. Learners feel more relaxed when
they learn outside the classroom environment because of not being corrected by the teacher/ instructor.

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Timing is a crucial issue for learning. In a classroom learning environment, the learners are given a fixed
time which, sometimes, cannot be appropriate for a learner because the learning mode cannot be the same
always. So a learner can learn whenever he/she wants to do it in an OCL environment. No one will impose
the schedule of practicing and the duration. Since there is no one to interrupt them, they call it fluent
learning. They also mentioned that the class teacher uses some prescribed materials and those materials may
not always be helpful for pupils. So in the OCL environment, learners can choose any materials they want to
or like to use for their learning which can be useful for their self-improvement. In the classroom, the teacher
may not be able to take care of everyone or give time to each individual alike or if there is someone to be
taken care of especially, the teacher may not find it easy or cannot be cautious enough about that special
learner. So, sometimes, it can be a great catastrophe in classroom learning. So the participants emphasized
the OCL. If they try to learn outside the class, they can get help from friends, family members, or even
private mentors who can assist the learners spontaneously. Even some participants share their wish to take
care of their family while they are learning because they have responsibilities for the family. Some of them
might have children or even some other dependent people at home to be taken care of. So, they mentioned,
that learning outside the class is helpful for them because it is less stressful since they can help their family
members and learn together. So, this style of study is really flexible in timing, duration, materials, and
mentors. There is no psychological pressure among the learners and that is why this mode of learning can be
taken into consideration for pupils.
When the researcher was looking at the nature of OCL, the participants were spontaneous to share their
opinion. This study found this genre of study is mostly Group Work or Group Learning. According to them,
OCL is mostly for discussion-based learning, so group work will be at the top of the nature of this learning
mode. Library work is, too, one of the top practiced outside learning modes told by the volunteers which can
be done in both ways; group work and lonely work in a calm atmosphere. Generally, in Bangladesh, adult
learners go to libraries for studying alone in a tranquil environment. Then comes, learning with technology;
it can be “reading with a computer/ laptop connected to the internet or offline. All of the participants
mentioned that they have at least a laptop or iPad or android big screen mobile to continue their study.
Within this reading environment, they generally discuss with reading partners and share notes and materials.
The participants responded diversely when they encountered the question about the reasons for OCL. By this
open-ended question, their responses were categorized into four separate types. First, they confessed that
they practice this mode of study for the examination. To cut a good figure in the examination, they come out
of the home to study and stay in the reading room, library, or anywhere they find it useful for study a long
period. Some other people like to study or practice in an outside environment because they think it is a better
option to learn more than in the classroom. Those learners who like the outside class environment do not
mean that they do not like or they hate the prescribed class, they just preferred it in an open environment.
Some participants also mentioned that they even do not know why they go outside of class to study but they
still keep practicing this.
The fourth and final open-ended question was about the challenges of OCL and the participants answered
spontaneously and unbiasedly. They mentioned that this is an informal learning environment and there is no
structural and organized way of learning and that is why the learning is not much effective as people expect.
Its time duration is longer but the output is less than that of classroom learning. It is so because the
participants of OCL are volunteers and everyone is autonomous. There were no hard and fast rules and they
are not bound to keep going in the same way as the rest of the group. So learning efficiency and learning
results decrease. In this environment, learners generally do not find motivation because of the lack of
guidance by mentors or instructors, more interruption by learning mates or, even, by outsiders or an
unfriendly learning environment this type of unstructured learning environment does not have any clear and
fixed objectives to be acquired in the meantime and they just roam around the text. So the ambiguous
objectives of learners just waste the time and, sometimes, the result is zero. One of the participants said,
“Since it is a self-motivated learning process, sometimes I cannot continue it because there are many other
things to divert my concentration”. So the participants of this study emphasized on
A) the concentration on learning
B) the individuality and

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C) the atmosphere and learning environment
According to the points of view of participants, LOC has both positive and neutral results. It is positive for
them who really can harvest the fruits from it.
Discussion
A significant portion of the participants disagreed on the comfortableness of OCL. A large number of
participants are also confused about what to do which means they do not know whether they should agree or
disagree with this statement. This type of confusion can be happened because of many reasons. The socio-
structural and socio-environmental differences can be counted as one of the most vital reasons. Students
from different groups of societies, sometimes, cannot cope with campus culture. Of course, there are fast
learners who are eager to learn new things and accept different views and ideas, but some people cannot
accept the new environment or culture and it is absolutely normal. Students who come from rural areas, for
example, sometimes take time to learn campus traditions if the campus is in an urban area or, sometimes,
cannot adjust at all. The learners who cannot adopt the new environment will not feel comfortable learning
outside of the classes and they will find it time-wasting, fruitless gathering of some anomalous or,
sometimes, maverick people. This situation, even, can be juxtaposed. The less adaptive participant can
wander about how her/ his group mates approach and how they talk. For this wandering behavior, most of
his/ her time can be wasted without learning or achieving the goal. Two learners from two sides of a country
may not have the same culture, same way of behavior, or even the level of education may vary. So it is very
usual the partakers feel differently.
Financially every student will not come from the same class of family. Some can come from very affluent
families or even the parents can be millionaires, some will come from a very poor background and, of
course, some learners will be somewhere in the middle of these two groups. Even if someone is homeless, it
is absolutely not something to be surprised by. For this reason, everyone can not have the same access to
materials. So, of the differences in access to material, some learners can use the most common, most
available materials. Others can have a personal library and a lot of collection of books and learning materials.
The second group with a lot of access to materials, of course, can use the most available and useful learning
equipment like the first group and, at the same time, they are also able to use the different ones, for example,
books, articles, audio-visual equipment, electronic devices, etc. So, the range of learning or acquiring
knowledge of a learner group cannot be the same. And they will feel differently. Additionally, of the
difference in financial background, and learning environment, the study duration can vary from learner to
learner and that is why the question about the comfortableness of OCL has different answers and sometimes
the opposite.
Political turbulence is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh that affects the learning environment. In
Bangladeshi culture student politics on the campus is a widely practiced activity and for this every now and
then there are demonstrations, slogans using loudspeakers, reunions, and meetings of political student
groups, sometimes clashes among them, unrest, and tensions on the campus. These types of activities hinder
academic maneuver. In this unfriendly situation, the learners cannot sit for OCL, even sometimes, they do
not want to go to the campus. Even if, the learners go to the campus and try to find a place to practice
learning activities outside the class, it is difficult for them to concentrate.
Family plays a vital role in the life of students in Bangladesh and controlling the decision-making process is
one of them, for example. The learner may want to practice learning with friends in or out of home but the
guardians may not allow them to out with a group or fellow students for this informal learning environment
because of uncertainty and fear on the one hand. On the other hand, some members of the family may not
allow the whole group in the home because of the noise or overcrowding. By any means, it is clear that,
somehow, the learner is bound to stay alone at home regardless she/he likes or not the OCL system. This
type of incidence mostly happens with female learners with some exceptional cases. So, family is one of the
key reasons why participants disagreed with the statement about the comfortableness of OCL.
For outside classroom learning in the Bangladeshi context, the weather should be taken into consideration.
Generally, the transportation means are not so developed, which means the public transportation is so poor,
and affording a car or motorcycle is a daydream for many citizens. So in the rainy season, meeting with
group mates or finding a suitable place is much more difficult because while it rains, sometimes, it rains for

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the whole day and night. So, people generally pass the time idly or learn along. In summer it is too hot
outside for learners to learn in the open sky or in such a place. There are scarcities of public libraries where
the learners can get together, and pass quality learning time in a student-friendly environment. So, in
summer, like the rainy season, it is difficult for pupils to arrange the study session with a group. But it is not
that difficult for them, rather it is a good opportunity to get more time to pass alone without any interruption.
A significant number of participants were confused about whether OCL is helpful or not and the researcher
found that most of the confused partakers are from either the “Disagree” group or the “More or less agree”
group of the previous question about the comfortableness of OCL. So, clearly, it can be mentioned that those
learners who think OCL is not comfortable for them, somehow, they are confused about the helpfulness of
OCL on the one hand. On the other hand, they never tried it before and even if someone tried to practice it,
they never thought of it whether it is helpful or not. So, negative responses about comfortableness and
helpfulness both came from the same group of people who either faced any obstacle or have a negative
review on OCL or did not try it at all.
Next, it is clear that the participants who can spend more than 8 hours a day for study, alone or with a group,
have more exposure to materials, a student-friendly environment and they are more affluent. They can easily
use either a private library or they are privileged offered by family members. On the other side, the
participants who confessed to spending from one to three hours announced that they remain occupied with
other activities rather than studying. Sometimes, a less affluent group of participants has to do some jobs to
support themselves and even their family members, for example. Sometimes, they lose motivation to
continue learning and that is the reason they do not like to pass more time learning outside the class.
The pupils who think OCL is helpful and comfortable but never practiced with a group or seldom tried it
with a partner think that serious study can be interrupted for the group members or for the reading partner.
So, they like to do it alone in a calm atmosphere and they call it a “fluent learning system”. On the other
hand, the pupils who often or sometimes practice with a group or at least with one learning partner think that
the broad scale learning should be acquired through a discussion with others so that they can share each
other’s point of view, knowledge, and learning experience which, they think, can broaden everyone’s
knowledge and they believe it is a win-win situation. Group learning, they think, can help them prepare for
the examination and learn very well.
Conclusion
This study on “Outside Class Learning: An Exploration” was conducted in February 2015. By analyzing
data, it can be concluded that in the context of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, researches on this
particular area need to be conducted in a wide range. This study was taken place among a small group of
students who are from only one academic session and only one particular department and all of them are of
the same age. The researcher noticed that though they practice this process of learning, sometimes, a
mentionable portion of the participants are confused about the pros and cons of OCL. They are confused
because they are not well aware of this learning process. They are not aware because they are not informed
about it and it can clearly be said that they are not informed because there is no research enough. If there
were sufficient studies on the vital area, the students might have not been so confused and at the same time,
they could have taken the decision quickly about what to do. By expressing learning satisfaction, the
participants of this study prepared to take part in learning outside the class in a more open, calm, relaxed, and
learner-friendly atmosphere. Education is not something to be kept in a box, even though the box is of
classroom shape. The Education and Skill Select Committee in 2005 found that OCL can benefit learners of
all ages and can be successful in a variety of settings. It allows learners to become risk aware but not risk
averse to learning, to undertake meaningful exercise as a means of staying healthy and learning more about
the topic, to have fun and enjoyment and achieve negotiated goals, to have the opportunity to work with
others and share their knowledge and contribute as active learners in a vast array of activities, to develop
their skill and self-confidence that can be applied later in their formal learning.

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References
1. Kerri- Lee Krause (2007), Beyond classroom wall: Students’ Out-of-Class Peer Experience and Implication for Teaching and
Learning. https://doi=10.1.1.564.6215&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
2. Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford/New York: Pergamon Press.
3. Benson, P., and Voller, P. (Eds.) (1997), Autonomy and independence in Language Learning. London: Longman.
4. Benson, P. (2001), Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. Harlow: Longman.
5. Little, D. (1991), Learner Autonomy.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259874253_Learner_Autonomy_1_Definitions_Issues_and_Problems.
6. Council of Europe, 2001,p. 106. https://rm.coe.int/16802fc1bf.
7. Manifesto for Education: Outside the Classroom, USA (2006). https://www.lotc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/G1.-LOtC-
Manifesto.pdf
8. Terenzini, P. & Reason, R(2005), Parsing The First Year of College: A conceptual framework of rethinking college Impacts,
Philadelphia, PA.
About Author
Md. Arman has been working in United Nations Peacekeeping Mission and was
deployed in the Central African Republic. He has completed his BA in English and MA
in Applied Linguistics and ELT from the Department of English, the University of
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Address: 5/5, Bakshibazar, Dhaka-1211, Bangladesh, Cell + Whatsapp:
+8801305393150, Email: rubelbdbhat@gmail.com

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